Tom Warner recently replaced Mervon Mehta as vice-president of programming for the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, when the latter took the head position at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Among his eclectic musical tastes, the accessible, warm and articulate Warner has a strong interest in jazz.

The Kimmel Center is the major venue for jazz concerts in Philadelphia, and All About Jazz has covered many fine events taking place there. It seemed important to find out how Warner's vision for jazz is similar to and different from that of his predecessor, since it will affect the listening experience for jazz fans during the next several years.

All About Jazz: We'll start out with the warm-up question that I ask the musicians; and let you as an administrator have a shot at it. If you were to go to the proverbial desert island, which five or six recordings would you take with you?

Tom Warner: Omigosh, that's a hard one! Well, I guess if I had to make that choice, I'd probably start with a collection of Mozart's late symphonies, say 36 through 41. I'd need a copy of a big band LP compilation that my father had when I was about 8 years old. It had that amazing sound of the big bands, from "Sing Sing Sing" to "Woodchopper's Ball" and so on. I'd need some James Taylor Quartet

TW: I had parents and friends who loved music and loved to sing, and I was fortunate enough to play an instrument at a young age, in the D.C. suburbs. I went to college at the College of Wooster in Ohio and grad school at Indiana University, Bloomington. I was fortunate enough to be in one or another jazz band, orchestra and chorus all through college and beyond.

AAJ: Do you remember your family listening to recordings or taking you to concerts as a kid?

AAJ: About the trombone, did you initially intend to make a career out of it?

TW: I'm not sure I ever planned to do that, although I could play pretty decently, and loved doing it.

AAJ: Who was your trombone teacher?

TW: The main teacher I had growing up was Larry Wiehe, the principal trombonist of the U.S. Air Force Band in D.C. He had the sweetest sound, and he would just mesmerize me. He introduced me to listening to people like Bill Watrous

AAJ:Tell us a bit about what brought you to the Kimmel Center. You came on board in another position even before it opened in December 2001. What brought you here? What was your career like before that?

TW: You're right. I've been working for the Kimmel Center ever since it was a hole in the ground and the building construction was just under way. Prior to that, for six years, I was the operations manager for the Philadelphia Orchestra. I was managing their international and domestic tours, radio broadcasts, CD production, on-stage rehearsals, and such. That was a great job. I got to travel the world with them on tours, and that was terrific. Before that, I worked for two other orchestras: the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Baltimore Symphony.

AAJ: Did you work with their former conductor, David Zinman?

TW: I did work with him. He's really terrificwhenever he's here in Philadelphia guest conducting I make sure to hook up with him.

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Warner's Work at the Kimmel Center

AAJ: What job did you have at Kimmel at first?

TW: Well, since we hadn't started concerts, I used my operations background to put together many of the policies and procedures, as well as working with the architects and designers. Once the place was up and running, I sort of slid over to the Programming Department.

AAJ: So you were Mervon Mehta's sidekick while he was VP?

TW: We did an awful lot in the first seven years of programming together. We decided on the various series. It's a nice luxury to work with a boss who thinks along the same lines and has similar tastes. We worked together very well.

AAJ: One of the reasons for doing this interview is to find out where the Kimmel programming is going to go now, since you took over from Mehta. How would you compare and contrast each of your passions in music?

TW: Let's see if I can pick this apart a bit, because it's somewhat difficult since we did see eye-to-eye on a lot of things. Both of us often go to clubs and concert halls to see what's happening. We both have a tendency to look at what's going on overseas in addition to what's happening here in the U.S. I've been fortunate enough to get some travel grants to check out the music and dance scene in different places, but I want us to continue our focus on what's going on right here in Philadelphia as well. But it's hard to distinguish my own preferences from Mervon's. I was asked that when I interviewed for the position, and I said I really would expect, at least initially, to continue what he did because it's been very successful.

We've got a nice group of loyal subscribers for all our series. Danilo Perez has ideas for our "Jazz Close Up" series just oozing out of him. Regarding classical music, we both love the great master musicians and recitals that we've had all along. I was probably more inclined than Mervon to push the "new music" series, "Fresh Ink" in the Perelman Theater, and coming up, a couple of them will be in the Innovation Studio here. I really can't get enough out of the new music that's happening these days.

AAJ: Do you have any thoughts about how you could incorporate more jazz into the "Fresh Ink" series?

TW: "Fresh Ink" started out as a contemporary classical music series. It has morphed, in a good way I think into, say a downtown music kind of series. We're bringing in groups such as the Bang on a Can All-Stars and the Absolute Ensemble, which are actually incorporating from the jazz vocabulary. I wouldn't be surprised if we include some avant-garde jazz musicians and composers in the series, such as Uri Caine

, who participated a couple of years ago. So I could easily see some mixing and matching.

AAJ: That would be greatto feature some of the more experimental kind of jazz, since "Fresh Ink" is all about the cutting edge. What is your vision for jazz programming at the Kimmel Center over the next few years?

TW: It's to make sure we do at least as much as we've been doing, if not a little bit more. Our various concert halls are in the same boat right nowit's not the best economy. On the other hand we have to come through, because if we don't, we run the risk of seeing this great American musical form not being exposed to the larger audience, and we need to have that happen. So we'll do everything we can to have our "Jazz Up Close" and "Jazz Fridays" series continue. If we can increase our shows, or do something to reach a wider audience of concertgoers, we will do so. We can't just say, "Jazz isn't the most popular art form," and not support it 100 percent.

It's important. And I think our audiences bear this out. Just last week, we had Wynton Marsalis